The ChangingMinds Blog!

Getting the job: the least worst candidate,
Theresa May and the hoped-for great saviour

Sometimes, when you are looking for a job, it is more important to not be
disliked than be outstanding in any areas. In this way, average, bland and
uncontroversial people get the job rather than those who might be more
effective.

A common time when this kind of appointment is made is where there are
strongly differing views among those who have a hand in the appointment process,
and in particular where any individual or group have the power of veto. In such
cases, the likely successful candidate will be a person to whom no selector
objects.

This is a common pattern in political appointments, where factions and power
players can all veto any appointee, and none more so than when people are
seeking a new leader. An example of this happened in the UK after the Brexit
referendum, where David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister and enmities between
people like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove made them insufficiently popular with
all sides. As a result, the moderate and flexible Theresa May got the job of
guiding Britain out the EU, even though she voted against it. Yet without the
fanatical support that strong leaders get, she has floundered as in-party
warring has continued unabated. This, during a time where unity is essential for
successful Brexit, could well lead to national disaster.

This least-worst decision-making appears in many other choice scenarios, from
business strategizing to buying a family car, where keeping everyone on board
beats innovation and high-potential risk. The averaging effect of compromise
destroys companies, brings down governments and kills passion. It creates
grudges as behemoths lumber on, even to their doom.

In balancing this dismal state of affairs, there is an answer which can seem
impossible when all parties are entrenched in blinkered views. This is of
visionary leadership that speaks to all and breaks through the impotent gloom.
Great leaders bring people together, speaking to their deep fears and desires,
yet not being beholden to them.

There is a theory, sometimes debunked, that explains this, proposing that a
'Great Man' will arise when there is great need. Despite the old sexism of the
idea, it is a common pattern in times of stress, where we seek a magical saviour
who will deliver us from anticipated evil times ahead (and look no further than
recent presidential elections for evidence of this). Practically, this is
unlikely to happen as the Conservatives are paralyzed by a fear of socialist
Jeremy Corbyn winning another election. Better the weak leader they know, it
seems.

Never mind the cynicism, we desperately need such a person now, and not just
in Britain. Let's hope our Churchill (an oft-quoted example) will step out on
the shadows soon.